Quotation: The power of observation
There are many “first secrets” of writing; as many as there are writers who talk of secrets of writing. Take note of this one; it will serve you like a good pocketknife:
The first secret of good writing: We must look intently, and hear intently, and taste intently … we must look at everything very hard. Is it the task at hand to describe a snowfall? Very well. We begin by observing that the snow is white. Is it as white as bond paper? White as whipped cream? Is the snow daisy white, or eggwhite white, or whitewash white? Let us look very hard. We will see that snow comes in different textures. The light snow that looks like powdered sugar is not the heavy snow that clings like wet cotton. When we write matter-of-factly that Last night it snowed and this morning the fields were white, we have not looked intently. Out of this intensity of observation we derive two important gains. We learn to write precisely; and we fill our storehouse with the images that one day we will fashion into similies and metaphors.
—James J. Kilpatrick
Sharpen to a razor’s edge your powers of observation. Look for the perfect words and phrases to paint pictures of what you see, hear, smell, taste and touch. Strive to make your sentences photo-realistic.
Roy Jacobsen
in Quotations, Growing as a writer
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